Trapped, Slipped, Falling
by cheekybrat
Summary: In the world of shinobi, things were meant to go wrong, she always thought. But now, she was tired. She just wanted to forgive, to forget, to let go. She wanted a brand new beginning. She wanted a home. And she looked no further than Konohagakure no Sato. But things aren't always as easy as it seems, right? [Rewrite] [Slow burn]


The village sure hasn't changed much, huh?

That day, the sun shined brightly over Konohagakure no Sato. A pair of footsteps made its way towards the village gate before coming to a stop just several meters before the gates. The hooded figure stood in silence, looking up at the gates as if burning each and every one of its lines into memory.

"Um, excuse me? Hey, you."

A voice snapped the hooded figure out of their trance. The figure tore its gaze away from the gates and, just several meters away from the gates, stood a shinobi wearing the standard attire of a Konoha ninja.

"Excuse me, but I'll need to see some IDs."

The man patiently waited for a response, but seconds turned into minutes and the silence became quite uncomfortable. The man squinted as he inspected the hooded figure thoroughly. Beneath the hood, he couldn't see their eyes, but he could see hints of feminine facial features. The person -the woman?- had a slim build, around 5 feet and 6 inches tall. But there was not much he could gather aside from that.

"Uh, excuse me?"

"A-ah, yes, right. I'm sorry."

The sudden response surprised him. Their -her?- tone was light, definitely not what he expected from a mysterious, potentially dangerous, hooded figure standing creepily outside the village gates.

The figure quickly walked towards him, pushing back the hood of her coat, revealing a head of red hair. Her baby blue eyes stared straight at him as she reached the post. "Here you go," she said with a smile, handing over an ID.

"Thank you." He took the ID into his hands and looked into it.

It was only a split second, but the woman didn't miss the hardening of his gaze.

"Um, excuse me," he said, looking up at her once again. "But what is the meaning of this?"

"That's my ID."

The man's eyebrows furrowed. He looked back at the ID, and then back at her, so on and so forth. "Come on, this isn't funny," he said, his tone was much harsher than it was. He lifted the ID in his hands as he repeated, "What is the meaning of this?"

"That's my ID. Look, you can see my picture on it. That's me."

With her blank expression and flat tone, the man couldn't tell whether she was joking, but it sure as hell didn't make him feel any better. "Listen, if you keep this up, I might just need to take you to the Hokage."

Much to his surprise, she smiled. "Perfect!" She said. "That's actually what I want you to do."

That seemed to be the last straw. "Now, you-"

"Alright. Hey, look, I know this sounds wrong, but please trust me," she quickly said, raising her hands in front of her in defeat. "Please take me to the Hokage. I promise I wouldn't do anything stupid. I mean, what do you think I'm going to do? Foolishly make a commotion in a village full of gifted shinobis? I don't think so."

The man fell silent. Well, she had a point. Moments passed, neither of them made a single movement. The man tried to look for any sign of deception, treachery, anything, in her eyes, but found nothing.

Then, he let out a disgruntled sigh. "Fine. However, make one move and we will end you."

Despite the threat, the woman laughed lightly. "Yeah, yeah."'

* * *

A groan was heard within the room. Today, like every other day, was a day full of paperwork for the Godaime Hokage. Stacks by stacks, they just keep coming. Tsunade let out a long sigh, pushing away a recently signed document and falling back onto her chair. How boring.

Knock, knock!

Tsunade shifted her eyes onto the door. That was definitely not Shizune. A visitor, at this time of the day? Strange. Oh well, at this point, anything is better than paperwork.

"Come in!"

Tsunade watched as three figures entered through the door. Two Konoha ninjas she could barely remember and… A young woman? Tsunade was certain she didn't know her, but somehow she couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity. Strange.

"Hokage-sama, this woman came to the gates earlier."

Tsunade rested her chin on her hand and looked the woman thoroughly. The redhead stood still, her face lacked any expression as she looked back straight at Tsunade. There didn't seem to be any problem. "And?" Tsunade asked. "Is that really a matter you need to bring to the Hokage?"

"No, well, you see, Hokage-sama," the guard answered sheepishly. "The problem is, she gave me this ID." He walked over towards her table and handed her the ID. With a single raised eyebrow, Tsunade looked into the ID.

Her bored expression immediately faltered. Eyes burning with anger, Tsunade turned her attention back towards the redhead. This time, the younger woman flinched in response.

"What is this?" Tsunade demanded, gesturing to the ID in her hands.

"That.. That is my ID."

"Quit joking around!" Tsunade stood up, slamming her hands onto the desk. When the redhead said nothing in response, Tsunade added, "Talk, or we'll get the information we want out of you!"

Suddenly, the redhead fell onto her knees and bowed down. They barely had any time to react before she, with voice much louder, much more desperate than before, a drastic change from her previous tone which lacked any emotions, said, "Forgive me, Tsunade-sama, but I beg you, please believe me! Please, I'll take any interrogation method you'll give me, I'll take anything, just please believe me and give me a chance!"

The room fell silent, each one of them frozen on their spot. Tsunade kept her eyes on the kunoichi before her. Her eyebrows furrowed. True, nothing is impossible, but it was just… unreal. That red hair. Those blue eyes. Could she really be…?

Tsunade took a deep breath. Without looking away from the redhead, she said, "You two can leave."

"Hokage-sama? Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'll handle this on my own. And make sure there's no interruptions."

They were obviously reluctant, but they were not going to disobey a direct order from the Hokage. Without a word, they exited the room. Even then, the redhead has not lifted her head from the floor yet. Moments of silence passed between the two women.

Tsunade groaned, massaging her forehead. When she thought she wanted something to save her from boredom, she didn't mean something this… bizarre.

What the hell is happening?


End file.
